Situation Analysis
February 17, 2015 was the World Pancake Day, and thus a number of organizations took the day to advertise their brands. However, Samsung carried the day. The campaign aimed at familiarizing its customers with different brands because hostility on any product could be converted into sympathy.
The self-doubters would accept the company and its products. Social media has massive following, and thus millions of potential clients would be reached via this advertisement.
Objectives
The Samsung’s campaign aimed at achieving three main objectives that can be evaluated using the SMART approach.
Objective 1: make everyone be involved with your brand in a unique way
- Make popular celebrities associate with your products together with your Twitter followers. This way, with your potential customers identifying with their popular celebrities, they would also identify with your products.
- It also unifies everyone involved from stakeholder to customers and the employees, as there is power in unity.
Objective 2: Increase sales
- With every commercial campaign, there is always the need to increase the number of sales, and this assertion was true in this case. The huge number of potential customers that would be reached via this platform means that a certain percentage would end up choosing Samsung as a brand. In turn, this aspect would improve the company’s market share as more customers start purchasing its products.
- The company has a set period of operating the business campaign of one day and it cannot be decided whether the objectives serve the short-term or the long-term objectives.
Objective 3: To reach social media fans and especially Twitter
- This aspect could have been approached from a total percentage expected, as it will present a more realistic case scenario.
Strategy
The campaign was more of creating a buzz in the social media that would have everyone talking about and participating in large numbers. Social media has become one of the most powerful marketing tools due to the ever-increasing audience.
Currently, the total number of social media users is close to 2 billion people, with Twitter having a market share of 288 million users. Therefore, this strategy would reach many potential clients at minimal marketing budget. The following strategy outlines how it was done:
- The company was able to make Pancake portraits of popular celebrities on Twitter. The fans were asked to send their pictures, which were then made into pancake forms and later retweeted for everyone to see.
- Winners were selected after which their pictures were recreated using the pancakes before being posted via Twitter for the world to see.
- In addition, the company decided to extend the releasing of pictures of some of the most famous people across the world after they had appeared on a certain TV show that day. This aspect captured the attention of the fans as they identified with celebrities, which is good for business.
The campaign strategy was a success as it received numerous appraisals from many celebrities and fans for the company’s different products. It captured the theme of the day and made the best out of it. The campaign captured all the Four DRIP elements, viz.
- Differentiates – involving the public in the marketing procedures was a success. This approach stands out of the rest because in most cases, some selected individuals are involved in the marketing program. However, in this case, the public was allowed to participate.
- Reassures – the campaign approach targeted both potential customers and their customers with the aid of Twitter. All parties enjoyed the fun created by the pancake pictures and video portraits.
- Informs – the company used Twitter to inform the public of its ongoing project and brands. By creating a captivating campaign that attracted and reached millions of people, Samsung stood a good chance of letting the world know of its products.
- Persuades- it was in a position to tune the pubic into some amicable fun while at the same time marketing products.
The most important customers who have the power to buy their products were reached through the fun induced by the pancake portraits, thus improving sales. All customers available on Twitter were able to receive the message. The timing was also on target, as many people tend to be online during holidays and special days to access discounts and other giveaways.
Tactics Employed
- Media – the company was able to use social media, and particularly Twitter, to market its product. This aspect put it ahead of competition and engaged many public consumers. This strategy was also cost effective.
- Electronic – By using Twitter and Television, the company was able to reach the global market in a single day.
The campaign was a success and it was made possible by the company engaging all the involved parties. It all started with producing picture portraits, which created fun then the marketing of products came naturally. The use of social media was ideal for the task on top of being cost effective.
What could have made the campaign even better?
The idea of using Twitter to pass the message was ingenious, but it would have been more success if the company used all social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram among others because not all people are on Twitter. Sometimes, individuals tend to use only one social medium, and thus using all the social mediums to do the campaigns would be successful, as it would have reached more customers.
The company should also have run the campaign for a little longer as opposed to one-day event. Campaigning on special days makes some customers to start judging the brand’s credibility. Overall, the company did a good job.
Many people received the campaign positively. In addition, the campaign became more interesting when it received several endorsements from celebrities. Almost everyone that saw the campaign was satisfied and left a positive feedback that the company can derive satisfaction.
Conclusion
The campaign was undoubtedly a success and it brought forth unique creativity and innovation that captured the eyes of the public across the world. The public was engaged in a one-day fun that involved posting commentary via Twitter. In addition, the public was amused not only to see their celebrities in the pancake portraits, but also themselves being tweeted.
Credited must be given to the Samsung Company for the perfect campaign. The use of social media also ensured that they reached out to a number of youthful customers who are the ideal candidates for their products. The only shortcoming is that the company chose to use Twitter only instead of using all the available social media platforms.
Appendix
Campaign source: https://www.prexamples.com/2015/02/pancake-portraits-as-samsung-celebrate-pancake-day/